[London] Coffee@ chain - closed?

[iheartcupcakes]

Just wondering if anyone on here knows whats happened to my favourite coffee shop - Coffee@ - we went today to the one on Goswell Road and it was closed, so we wandered to the Whitecross St one and I was horrified to see it was closed too!!!!

Anyone know whats happened? Where am I going to chill out and read the Sunday papers now? Help!

[raistlyn]

Update: I wandered down Brick Lane yesterday and noticed that the Coffee@ branch near Bethnal Green Road is still open, although the signage has changed (it doesn't have the '@' sign anymore, if I recall correctly).

The one near the Old Truman Brewery now has a sign saying "Sorry, we're f***ed" and directs people to the other branch.

[iheartcupcakes]

Thanks for the update - I've been meaning to get to Brick Lane since starting this thread but life has got in the way of my plans!

[kristainlondon]

I've heard from numerous people now that they are in administration. Oddly, I definitely saw a cot (sorry--American term. Not sure what the English equivalent is) in the Goswell Road branch so someone was sleeping there up until recently. And this morning, a sofa was definitely gone. Soooo weird!

Anyhow, word on the street is that they didn't rent the properties they operated from. I guess they actually owned them? And 240 coffees a day wasn't the sort of business model that saw them covering their mortgage payments, you know? (240 coffees is just me estimating 30 coffees and hour over 8 hours, considering that they were open longer than 8 hours, and some hours probably saw a lot fewer than 30 coffees.)

[jonnybrandon]

I used to work in a couple of the branches. The Tower Bridge shop was always going to end up closing because it was dead most of the time. And yes, the Bermondsey St one is the original and their headquarters - if that one is closed then it must be bad. From what I can tell they are either shutting down or they're down-sizing. Whether this is due to the financial crisis or other reasons remains a mystery. The shops were always busy and taking in a substantial amount of money but the rents are huge and they tried to expand too quickly. They will definitely shut one of the Brick Lane branches I reckon. I shan't miss them too much, but Brick Lane won't be the same without them.

[Justonemore]

My favourite coffee chain. I used to go after the gym or a run to have their banana and coffee frappe thingy as my recovery drink, read the papers and down a litre of water.
I guess they would have had a fairly low turnover, but their expenses should have been low. Maybe the rent proved too much.
I wish I could help somehow.

[lallys1]

This is a real loss, the Goswell Road one was the perfect hang out, it wobbled just after christmas, Whitecross lasted a week longer till mid January. I hope somone rescues it, a Starbucks world would be depressing. Here's hoping the last indy "monmouth" coffee, (monmouth st and borough market) who also supply flat white (berwick st) can survive the recession.

[nanette]

Given that I'm always waiting in line there for what seem to be monmouth lengths of time, I think they'll do alright. Hope Caffe Vergnano will still be around too!

[jhm206]

The 2 Coffee@'s on Brick Lane are also shut. The sign has been taken down on one and the other looks like people have just upped and left... weird... It's the only coffee place I used to go to and I love it.

I wish we knew why? It must be the recession... I hope they don't get taken over by Starbucks!!!!!

[raistlyn]

Oh dear. :( I know there's stiff competition in terms of places to buy coffee around the area, but that was probably the only place I knew where you could sit down and enjoy the coffee as well. I'll miss it for sure!

[chloe254]

Goswell and WhiteCross were both still closed on Sunday Feb 1st. FYI, there actually was some work being done in the Goswell one on Wednesday so there is still hope.

still no sign in Whitecross's windows.

[iheartcupcakes]

Oh that's a good sign! I keep meaning to get up there but work last week was so hectic I couldn't take a long lunch and then today I had a "snow day"! I do wonder why they didn't have a website- would help a lot!

[limster]

Coffee@Bermondsey was open today. Got a drink there.

[raistlyn]

The (original?) Coffee@Brick Lane shop was still open for business as usual when I walked past it on Sunday around noon. It was quite busy too.

[felizald]

I think the original was Coffee@Bermondsey. The one @Goswell Rd had a sign saying "closed for refurbishment" or something like that a few days ago... It was my source of daily coffee!!!

The one at Whitecross St was closed too two days ago when I walked by.

[iheartcupcakes]

We didn't see a sign but perhaps we missed it as we were so disappointed!

I will have a pop by Whitecross 2moro if I get a chance to check it out - maybe someone at the market'll know what happened!

Thanks to all that replied -looks like I'll be going to Brick Lane at weekends for coffee !

[bagelfairy]

Went bankrupt---shame.

[relizabeth]

Both on brick lane were closed yesterday. The one between the beigel shops looked like they just walked out and locked up. There were even cartons of fresh milk on the floor.

[iheartcupcakes]

Thats what the Whitecross one looked like - there were bottles of water etc on the table. thanks for the update!

[limster]

The sign on the door of Coffee@Bermondsey said that they had a burst water mains.

[debord]

I was on Bermondsey Street on Friday and saw the aforementioned sign. I got the bus to Liverpool Street where I should have got a coffee at Taylor St but decided I would plow on and walk to Whitecross Street. The branch there was "Closed For Maintenance" .Disappointingly the burrito stall wasn't there nor the stall selling magazines for a quid. Fed up and soaked i walked back to the Wetherspoons on Old Street and downed a few pints of Double Stout.

[iheartcupcakes]

There was no sign in Whitecross yesterday, nor at Goswell Road. They both looked like they'd just been left - there were empty bottles etc on the tables in Whitecross. I may wander up there this week in my lunchhour to see if theres anything happening there.

[babybat]

I think it's gone into administration, the branch on Tower Bridge Road is also closed. Seems the recession is starting to make itself felt :-(

[iheartcupcakes]

Oh bum! Such a shame, this was my favourite place to chill out with a coffee, and the staff were really nice as well.
Thanks for letting me know though - I had planned to go to Brick Lane today to check if their 2 stores were closed but have come down with a stinking cold so didn't make it.